GM maize 'no threat to wildlife'

Farmers who grow genetically modified herbicide tolerant maize crops under strict rules would not see adverse effects on wildlife, government scientific advisers have said.

The message from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) will be studied by ministers as the debate over the commercialisation of the controversial crops gathers pace.

The ACRE panel, which has spent the last three months looking at the results of three year nationwide field scale trials of crops, announced their advice to Government at a London press conference.

But their verdict on GM beet and spring sown oil seed rape is that if these were grown, it would have adverse effects on arable weed populations and in turn on insects and birds, compared with conventionally managed beet.

Jules Pretty, deputy chairman of ACRE, told the news conference: "In a sense we are saying 'yes, but' to the maize and 'no, but', both to the beet and the spring sown oil seed rape.

"That is not 'yes, no, no'. That is very important."

English Nature, another advisory panel to Government, has told ministers that oilseed rape and beet should not be commercialised, but GM herbicide tolerant maize may be commercialised subject to certain conditions.